Method of and apparatus for purifying water



(No-Model.)

HpRoBs-KR; METHOD 0F AND APPABATUSFOR PURIFYING WATER. No. 501,732.

INI l ...VNMW v S M ESL m W operation, the filtered water is areated before UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY RoEsKE, oF PHILADELPHIA, AssIeNoR or ONE-HALE To ROBERT WETHERILL a oo., oE CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING WATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed October 15, 1892 To tif/ZZ lwtogmit may concern! 4 Be it known'that I, vHENRY ROESKE, residing at Philadelphia, in the county ofwPhiladelphia, in the'V State of Pennsylvania, 'have invented a new and Improved Method o f and Apparatus for Purifying Water, of which the following is a specification.

For important sanitary reasons, thepurification of water intended for drinking or culinary purposes is daily receiving more and more attention by municipalities, andprac; tical methods or means for effecting the de'-Y sired result upon a large scale have been widely discussed, and, in some instances, 'already adopted and used. I have devised a new and improved method and apparatus for this purpose. The former involves passing the water to be purified through a body of comminuted iron which is simultaneouslyn agitated and subjected to the action'of an electric current, the oxide thus rapidly formed and disengaged, or set free, mingling with the Water and serving to precipitate the larger portion of its impurities, the remainder being removed by filtration. As a final step in the entering the distributing reservoir. The Ineans, or apparatus, include a very economic construction and arrangement of parts, or elements, so that the plant may beset up and operated at comparatively small cost. /l/

In accompanying drawings Figure 1, represents my improved apparatus partly in section, and Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section of the main portion of the same.

The water to be purified is taken from a lake, pond, river or other source of supply A, and enters a passage or conduit B, wherein it passes through a quantity of comminuted iron C, which is simultaneously agitated and also subjected to the action of an alternating electric current supplied by the circuit Wires ab, from a Westinghouse dynamo N. One (a) of the Wires connects with the agitating device D, and the other (b) with the body of iron C. The latter is supported upon a perforated plate c over which the agitator D is adapted Patent No. 501,732, dated July 1e, 1893.

. Serial No.449,011. (No model.)

ries of arms radiating from a vertical shaft d,

and having a series of ypendent iron or steel teeth or ngers,which1nove through the iron and stir the same as the 'shaftd is rotated.

This movement is imparted by an electric motorE which is connected with the agitator shaft by means of suitable gearing. tor is driven by the current derived from the dynamoand which passes from the' "motor through the iron C'and revolving rakeD.

X In further explanation of the details of the aingangement and operation of the electrical po tion of the apparatus, I will state, that the 'Wire,`d, from the positive pole of thealternate dynamo, N, (which should be capable of dis charging fifteen thousand alternating currents of one thousand volts in oneminutd) connects with the iron shaft d, which is insulated from the bevel gear thereon,by means of a hard-rubber collar e, and also insulated from the step bearing below, by means of a hard-rubber socket f, as shown. The horizontal arms of said shaft may be of wood, capped with iron plates, or they may be Wholly of iron. They are provided with a which are set loosely therein, so that they may la; connects with the perforated iron plate, o, on which the comminuted iron ore rests. It is apparent, that the alternating currents, from the dynamo pass through and polarize the iron particles, which work in frictional contact. When two metallic bodies are suspended in Water containing any metallic salts, and a direct electrical current is passed through the Water, the salts are split up into their component elements and the metal will be dissolved from the one body and deposited on the other. Alternate currents produce the same effect. It is howevernot noticeable for the reason that'whatever is dissolved from the one body is deposited by the other, and the volume therefore remains. If now the two metallic bodies are in constant friction, as is the case in my apparatus, the deposition is to rotate. Said agitator is composed of a sehindered and the dissolved particles are car- The mo-` series of vertical holes to receive headed teeth be easily withdrawn and new ones substr.- tuted, whenv required. The other conductor,

ried away by the motionof the Water. 1f a Water does not contain metallic salts in sufficient quantity to produce this effect, it is pure enough for use as it is. I apply the alternate currents less for the promotion of dissolution of the irpn, since this is snfciently i accomplished by the friction of the steel agitator and the softeriron filings; I use it more for the destruction of bacteria. Thus, the germs, bacteria, or microbes in the water are subjected to both an electrical and mechanical destructive action. I have demonstrated that, in this matter, my method is fai-'superior in effect to that by which electrical currents are simply directed into and through the body of Water to be purified. The alternating electrical currents 4also neutralize some acids in the Water, for example, phosphoricl and prussic acids. rent possesses the power to split up or decompose such acids, and the components are sepa,- rated andvcarried away in the coursev of the subsequentagitation and aeration of the Water. The electric current and the friction ofthe iron particles with each other when agitated by the `rake D,.promote oxidation of the metaland facilitate disengagement of theo'Xide which mingles with the Water wherein it attracts foreign vegetable matter or impurities which. are then for the most part precipitated upon the bottom of. the conduit. The water current passes along the conduit B, and is drawn up the pendent tube F, by a suction and force pump (not shown) located at G, andby it forced.

through the horizontal tube I-I,` into and through a suitable filter I, whence thepuriiied water is forced vup the reservoir pipe J ,and discharged from its curved nozzle upon an overshot wheel K, and descends into thereservoir L.

of air against the falling water and thus aerates it to a high degree, which operation completesthe process of purification.

It is obviousthat other Wheels maybe substitutedfor the overshot Wheel; vfor example,

an undershot or breast Wheel, or a turbine',

The pumpbywhich the Wateris elevated and forced forward. as above described, is l port the stratum or body of iron inother Ways,and the Water current may even be caused to'i'loW over rather thanv directly upward through the mass. The agitation of the iron may also be accomplished by other means or methods than those described, and I do not` desire to restrict myself to the precise means shown.

It will be seen that the delivery of the filtered water into the reservoir is made to serve That is to say,the alternatingcur- Contiguous to the. said Wheel K isA I placed arotary fan M, which directs a blastl '1 as a means for driving the dynamo-for generating the alternating electric current that drives the motor and also circulates through the stratum of iron-an economic advantage which is readily apparent.l

Having th us.y describedv myin vention, what 1 claim, and desire to secure vby Letters Patent, is-

l. The method or process of purifying Waiter whichv consists in passing it through a stratum or body composed of pieces of 1ron which is simultaneously agitated and sub- `jectedto the action of an electric current, l, then filtering the Water to remove such impurities as were not precipitated by the oxide disengaged from theiron and mingled Wlth the Water, and iinally aeratingthe filtrate,

substantially as specified.

lconsistingin passing water through a stratumy `or body of comminutediron which isA simul- Ataneously agitated and subjected to the action of anv electric current, then filtering the wa-` 'ter tok remove` such impurities as were not precipitated by the oxide'disengaged from the iron, substantially as specied.

3. In purifying Water, the method or process which consists in passing Water through v'a stratum or body of'comminuted iron,.in si,- multaneously agitating such stratum and subjecting it to the Aaction of an electric current, substantially as shown and described',for the "purpose specilied. y

'f2 4. In avWater-purifying apparatus, the coml binationwith a Water conduitv and a quantity. of comminuted iron supported therein, ofau felectric circuit of'v which the iron forms a part, fand a means for agitating the iron, substan- "tiall'y` as shown and' described.

5. In a water purifying apparatus the combination With ahwater passage or.conduitand `aquantity of comminuted iron Vsupported or lheld thereiuof an electric circuit of which the ironl forms ka part, and a revolving rakev composed of a shaft and'radial arms having 2. In purifying water the process or method' IOO .Qprojectingteetmvvhich work in the iron and" jagitate the same, substantially asgshoWn-and` y described.'

6; In anapparatus for rpurifyingwater, the

combination of the conduitB, a perforated; plate arranged'therein, astratum or body of. i-comminutediron supported upon said plate,l

"the revolving iron rake arranged directly above the plate and lWorking.,through the iron, and the electric circuit; Wires, one con- "nectingwith the rake .and the other with the` jbody of iron, as shown anddescribed'.l

7 In` an apparatus forV purifying `Water, the combination, with the dynamo, of a lWaterwheel connected; thereto by means suitable forV effecting their simultaneous rotation a.

IZO

or passage,a stratum or body of comminuted iron arranged in such conduit, means for agitating the iron, an electric circuit of which the iron forms a part, a pump for forcing the Water forward, a filter, a pipe connecting said 1o filter with the pump anda means for aerating the filtrate, snbstantiallyras shown and described.

HENRY ROESKE.

Witnesses:

HARRY B. YERGER, A. G. SEYMOUR COOPER. 

